1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to techniques for holding various items of sports equipment and, more particularly, to a sports equipment rack that is adapted to be attached to a wall.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are a variety of known sports equipment racks and holders. One known holder, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,547, can be suspended from the ceiling. Other sports equipment racks and holders are known that are adapted to hold particular kinds of equipment, particularly baseball bats and balls. These holders, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,698,563; 4,049,126; 4,193,495; and 4,227,710, include shelf-like members or prongs that form receptacles for baseball bats. The holders can be attached to vertical surfaces such as a baseball batting cage, or they can be wheeled about from place to place. A drawback of the referenced devices is that they primarily can be used to hold only baseball equipment.
Other types of sports equipment racks and holders also are known. U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,854 discloses a solid, wall-mounted rack adapted to hold equipment for such games as table tennis and badminton. U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,317 discloses a similar device. A drawback of the referenced devices is that they are adapted to hold sports equipment for only certain sports, and they either cannot hold other sports equipment or they can do so only with great difficulty or modification.
Yet an additional type of sports equipment rack is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,650,407 and 4,002,241. Although the referenced devices are capable of supporting both balls and bats, as well as other objects, they are formed from solid materials such as blow-molded sheets of plastic. The resultant structures thus are limited in size due to whatever size limitations may be imposed by the molding equipment.
The devices referred to do not disclose any structure suitable for supporting a large number of balls and related sports equipment, including bats. Desirably, a sports equipment rack would be available that would be lightweight, inexpensive to manufacture, compact for purposes of shipping and storage, and yet, when assembled, would be capable of holding a large number and variety of sports equipment items, including baseball bats.